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Monday, June 2, 1997

Sign-ups still available for some summer sports


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PECOS, June 2 -- Registration for Pecos-Barstow-Toyah summer volleyball
and basketball programs will take place during this week, while golf and
weight training will get underway next week.

Fees are $5 per child, or $8 for families with two children and $10 for
those with three enrolled in the programs.

Summer volleyball is scheduled for odd-numbered weekdays the first three
weeks of June from 6 to 9 p.m., and from 9 a.m. to 1 p.m. and 6 to 9
p.m. each day the week of June 23. In July, volleyball times are 6-9
p.m. on July 1 and 3, and from 9 a.m. to 1 p.m. and 6-9 p.m. the weeks
of July 14 and July 21. Becky Granado will be the instructor for the
course.

Volleyball camps for girls entering Grades 7-9 will also be held on
three different weeks from 9 a.m. to 1 p.m.

Basketball will share the gym during June with volleyball, and will have
Mike Sadler as instructor. Students can sign up during their first day
of attendance, and the program will begin next Tuesday and run through
July 3.

Summer golf will hold registration on June 9-10 in the Pecos High School
library, and begin on June 11 and 12 with Kim Anderson as instructor.

On Mondays, Wednesdays and Fridays class times will be 8-8:45 a.m. for
Grades 4-5; 9-9:45 a.m. for sixth graders; 10-10:45 a.m. for Grades 7-8
and 11 to 11:45 a.m. for high school students. On Tuesdays and
Thurdsays, classes will be from 8-8:45 a.m. for Grades 7-8 and 9-9:45
a.m. for high school students.

Along with those programs, the PHS field house will be open during the
summer for weight lifting, beginning on June 9. Dan Swaim will be the
supervisor, and the weight machines will be available from 6 to 8 p.m.
each evening, with the exception of July 3.

Registration was today for summer track program, which runs
Monday-Thursday at Eagle Stadium, and for the first session of the
summer tennis program. The second session will run from June 16-27 with sign-ups for that two-week class on June 16 at the PHS tennis courts.

Mailman delivers FT bricks, Jordan delivers win


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By MIKE NADEL
AP Sports Writer
CHICAGO, June 2 -- Everyone at the United Center knew -- the coaches,
the players, the fans, the ushers, the ballboys. Everyone watching on
television knew -- from Chicago to Salt Lake City, from Algeria to
Zimbabwe.

With 7½ seconds left in Game 1 of the NBA Finals and the score tied
Sunday night, Michael Jordan was going to get the ball.

He got it. He shot it. He hit it. Chicago Bulls 84, Utah Jazz 82.

``I can't really fathom the idea that everybody watching the game ...
knows that you are going to get the ball, knows you are going to take
the shot, and yet you are able to come through in that situation,'' said
Jordan, whose 21-foot jumper as time expired put the Bulls within three
victories of their fifth championship in seven years.

``It is an unbelievable feeling,'' he said. ``I don't want to be put in
that situation too often. But when I am, I want to be successful.''

Jordan has succeeded so often -- last-second jumpers that eliminated
Cleveland in both 1989 and 1993 leap to mind, though there have been
many others -- ``it's old hat to see it,'' Utah's John Stockton said.

Jordan dribbled for most of the final 7½ seconds, thrilled that the Jazz
weren't double-teaming him. He went airborne a stride inside the 3-point
arc, faded away slightly from defender Bryon Russell, released the ball
perfectly and swished his shot through the hoop as the horn sounded.
Jordan then raised a celebratory fist into the air, soaking in the
cheers.

``He did what Michael Jordan is known for -- backbreakers,'' said
Russell, the latest on a long list of players to be victimized by the
NBA's supreme clutch performer. ``The shot just went down. And that's
all.''

Now Utah has two full days to think about it before the best-of-7 series
resumes Wednesday night at the United Center.

``Anytime you lose a tough game, you want to jump right back into it,''
Karl Malone said. ``Obviously, we didn't do the things down the stretch
to win and they did.''

Malone, who edged Jordan for league MVP honors this season, missed two
free throws with 9.2 seconds left, ruining an otherwise fine
performance.

``I'm from Summerfield, La., and we don't have any excuses down there,''
said Malone, who had a wound on his right hand that needed frequent
attention during the game. ``I didn't make the free throws. It was just
me up there, and I didn't.

``It is agonizing, but I never dwell on them. They were big free throws,
but it shouldn't have come down to that.''

Jordan, a four-time MVP, finished with 31 points on 13-of-27 shooting
with eight assists and four rebounds. Malone, who had 23 points on
10-for-22 shooting and 15 rebounds, even admitted afterward that Jordan
is the NBA's best player.

``What do you want me to say? Obviously, it's Michael Jordan,'' said the
man known as the Mailman. ``He wanted the ball at crunch time. He got
it. He made it. It's hard to argue with that.''

Until Jordan's shot went in, capping an exciting game in which the Bulls
never led by more than three points and never trailed by more than
seven, one easily could have argued that Scottie Pippen had been
Chicago's MVP Sunday.

Playing despite a sore left foot that kept him out of practice all week,
Pippen scored 27 points on 11-for-19 shooting and pulled down nine
rebounds. He also made a 3-pointer with 1:11 left -- after teammate Ron
Harper rebounded Jordan's missed jumper -- for an 81-79 lead.

``He gave us a courageous effort,'' Jordan said. ``He picked up the
intensity and he carried us with his emotions. It got us right into the
flow that we wanted to be in to finish the game.''

After Pippen's 3-pointer, Stockton hit a 3-pointer to put Utah back
ahead. Jordan then made one free throw but missed another with 35.8
seconds left.

``I didn't think I would get another opportunity,'' Jordan said.

It was then that Pippen made his final contribution, saying something to
Malone as the Utah star went to the foul line.

``I just kind of whispered in his ear,'' Pippen said, ``that the Mailman
doesn't deliver on Sunday.''

As Jordan readied for his own special delivery, he got surprisingly
little resistance from the Jazz.

Russell was close but didn't really have a hand in Jordan's face. Jeff
Hornacek, who had guarded Jordan most of the game, had begged off,
telling coach Jerry Sloan that the taller, quicker Russell probably
could do better.

And Sloan decided -- foolishly it turns out -- not to send a second
defender at Jordan.

``We tried to play him as straight as we could,'' said Sloan, a former
Bulls star whose number hangs in the United Center rafters. ``Probably
made a mistake.''

Jordan, naturally, loves defensive mistakes.

``I was looking to see if the double-team was going to come, and the
double-team never came,'' Jordan said. ``I knew I was in a one-on-one
situation.''

Michael Jordan. One-on-one. Game on the line. Clock running out.

Passing wasn't an option.

He was going to shoot. He was going to score. He was going to win the
game.

Again.

(Copyright 1997 by The Associated Press)

State and Regional Sports Pages--San Angelo Standard-Times


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arising from any of the foregoing.


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